Buildings having interior courtyards are quite old. It was common in ancient Rome to have a central courtyard in the homes of wealthy families. These courtyards provided a gathering space open to the elements, which was quite pleasant during fair weather, but unusable during rain, sleet, snow or excessive cold, heat or humidity.
More recently, economics and personal preferences have led to the development of large scale apartment and business condominium projects in which each individual family or business has its own living or business space within a larger structural unit. Such construction, however, has not encouraged use of a Roman style courtyard, largely because the desired high density land use discourages provision of sufficient openings through the structure to permit adequate air flow, with the result that in unpleasant weather, for example on a humid summer day with the sun shining into such a courtyard, the courtyard cannot benefit from any breeze and becomes uncomfortably hot and sticky.
Having a roof over the courtyard makes it all-weather and allows it to be used in all climatic conditions. A heating and air conditioning system can then maintain the desired temperature and humidity within the covered courtyard, while keeping the level of pollutants to a minimum. The use of an air-supported, translucent roof to cover the courtyard and provide a controlled climate within the courtyard is advantageous not only because such a roof is economical but also because such a roof can be sufficiently opaque that it blocks direct heat-creating sunlight, yet sufficiently transparent to provide ample light during the day.
Air-supported roofs are known, such as the one installed on the Silverdome Stadium in Pontiac, Michigan. Such structures permit control of the climate within the building. However, the climate control within such a structure is highly inefficient and, therefore, is prohibitively expensive for use on building or office units. The present invention provides additional improvements over installations of this type in that the structure of the present invention permits efficient control of the climate within the structure.